Stein 'Homo Erectus' Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2018

As a joke, in the late 1980s Ulrich Stein planted only a few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, high up in his Grand Cru Palmberg vineyard. The point was, almost more than anything else, to annoy the German wine authorities and to push the boundaries of what was "acceptable" in the Mosel. Over 20 years later, as a result of the dramatic changes in the climate, the vines are now ripening fully and the wine is layered and powerful. It remains, of course, very much a cool-climate wine, with blue fruit more than ripe red fruit, all wrapped tightly around an assertive, mineral and tannic frame. 

Tasting notes:

The grapes are farmed organically, hand picked, and destemmed by machine. After fermentation in large barrels, the juice is split into 50% used and 50% new oak barrels (lightly toasted), for eighteen months. 

The nose immediately suggests richness. The first thing I get is chocolate: malted chocolate, cocoa powder, velvety hot chocolate. I think much of that is from the Merlot. The Cabernet appears in the astoundingly pure pepper flavors mingling in and around confectionary sugars: red, black and pink peppercorns jump out, plus fresh green bell pepper. 

The palate is lifted, pure and beautiful - no other way to say it. The softness from the Merlot counterbalances the raw intensity of Cabernet, resulting in a wine that has palatable forward motion and intensity while retaining elegance. It’s like driving a sports car: it accelerates so quickly and so smoothly that it’s hard to believe you’re really going over 100 MPH. Matthew Hawkins